Upgrade from a gaming headset

[Fidycent]

Hello, it appears that it's time my audio solution needs to change, I'm just not entirely sure what I want/need.

I'll start off with what I currently have - Corsair HS70, which to my inexperienced ears sound okay, they're a bit stiff on my head, but unless I was in 12 hour Discord calls, I survived, the main reason I got them, was because they are (were) an affordable option to explore the wireless headset world, for a few days i also had the Artics 7, which seemed way worse for double the price. A tl;dr would be that they're okay for the price for a wireless headset (input and output wise), not all that durable, as the stitched ear cups came loose rather quickly, and have now almost completely fallen off.

 

Now for the upgrade, I'm not entirely sure what I need or want - I've found that the wireless is nice, but not worth the premium, both of my wireless headsets worked very well in my room, and maybe the next room, but that's about it, and it didn't serve much use for me.

Before I continue, here's a bit about what I use my audio for, and where I get it.

 

Most of the time I spend would be listening to music and being on discord calls, quite a bit of time spent gaming and watching movies as well, I sometimes stream, but it's not all that often.

I'm looking to order everything off Amazon.co.uk, I don't have a budget as such, but I don't think I can justify spending more than 350 GBP on the whole setup, of course bang for your buck is the goal.

Solutions I've considered, looked through, with my questions, concerns:

1.

Audio-Technica AT2035
beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO
Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen

 

The priciest of all the options I considered. My concerns regarding this choice are:
The microphone - is the 2035 necessary or the 2020 would be sufficient (135 vs 77 gbp), for this style of microphone overall - I don't sit very still, of course the sound volume will change depending on how far I sit, but will me sitting straight and leaning back in the chair to the side require me to reposition the mic to have a clear/loud enough input? Also I have a mechanical keyboard and my GPU gets rather loud when it ramps up to 100% fan speed - how difficult is it to isolate background noises as such?
The headphones - They're open - I currently do not hear my GPU having my headphones on, the keyboard is still audible, with the headphones being open will this become an Issue? Impedance - I've  went through way too many forum posts, reddit posts etc, and found very mixed responses, 250 ohm seem to be the common choice, will either the Scarlett Solo or my mobo (ALC892, Tomahawk B350 Artic) be enough to run these well enough, of course they would benefit from an AMP, but I'm not sure I can spend that much, at least currently.

 

2.

ModMic 5
beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO

Questions, concerns with this option:
The modmic - how bad are the wires to deal with, a headphone wire is already not fun to deal with, an extra wire running just seems very off-putting to me, and the wireless option seems very unjustifiable in price.

The headphones - same concerns as mentioned in the first option

3.

HyperX Cloud II

 

Okay buddy, the title says upgrade from a gaming headset, what are you on about?
Both of the previous options come at a hefty premium, are they worth it? Maybe i should just soldier on with a good (I've used the headset multiple times, can't say bad things about it) headset, I've read/heard that upgrading to the beginner-tier audiophile equipment is seriously worth it, after that the premiums change less and less, as with anything really.


Sorry that it's A LOT to read, after doing the tiny bit of research I did, i found that there's so much to it, and tried to only include the BIG questions I had regarding the topic.

 

Thanks.

[The Flying Sloth]

Option 1 is by far the best and the cost can certainly be brought down with a few tweaks.
I'd sub the Bhringer UMC202HD for the Scarlett, either a MB75, C2 or CM1 for the 2035 depending on your background noise situation and the 250ohm 990s should be powered just fine by the 202HD. 
That should save you a fair amount but if you're looking for a more budget friendly rig I'd pick the Behringer UM2, C2, MA400 and your choice of headphones, don't even need the MA400 if they're not too impedancey. 

Check out the recommendation / guide link in my signature if you want an idea of reasonably priced gear or just more information about this hardware area.

Sloth

[Fidycent]

6 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Option 1 is by far the best and the cost can certainly be brought down with a few tweaks.
I'd sub the Bhringer UMC202HD for the Scarlett, either a MB75, C2 or CM1 for the 2035 depending on your background noise situation and the 250ohm 990s should be powered just fine by the 202HD. 
That should save you a fair amount but if you're looking for a more budget friendly rig I'd pick the Behringer UM2, C2, MA400 and AT M40x

Check out the recommendation / guide link in my signature if you want an idea of reasonably priced gear or just more information about this hardware area.

Sloth

Thanks, your guide was really helpful.

The Bhringer UMC202HD, before posting I saw this unit compared to the Scarlett - and the major factor being the price, sadly on the amazon.co.uk it is more expensive than the Scarlett - so I figure It's either one at that point.

The microphones - again, having troubles finding them listed with a decent price or listed at all, what I ended up finding:
MXL V67G - Holy, its ugly, really.. 102 GBP
AT 2035 - 133 GBP
Rode Podmic - 102 GBP

I assume all of these are okay choices, and the best scenario would be getting a dynamic one and a condenser one, see how they both work with my setup

 

Your suggestion of the MA400 intrigued me quite a bit, I failed to see this unit mentioned anywhere else, people usually suggesting the Schiit Stack (which is like 200$!), I assume for 17.50 its a no brainer pickup?

I really failed to drive down the budget here.. But I've heard good things about the longevity of all the hardware.

Thanks again, If there's any more input you'd like to add before I purchase, that'd be appreciated, if not, I'll probably end up getting a combination of the previously mentioned hardware

[The Flying Sloth]

1 minute ago, Fidycent said:

-snip-

Try checking on Thomann, world's biggest online music retailer (based in Germany) and I'd hazard a guess shipping wouldn't be as bad to the UK as it is to me here in Australia, honestly that's where I get almost all my new audio gear from, you might be able to drive down prices a fair bit just by ordering from there instead.

Be warned with those cheaper Scarlett interfaces, it seems that despite assurances made by the manufacturer some find they do not power 250 ohm headphones to the level they like. That's where the MA400 can be really helpful, it really is just a headphone amplifier, it's the one I recommend as bang for buck champion when onboard audio or a budget interface just can't drive 250 or 600ohm headphones the way someone wants. I've not yet heard any complaints about it as a unit and as with most studio-centric gear it's designed to handle a fair amount of abuse.

Like the guide says, mic choice is heavily dependent on the amount of background noise you have, if you've got a lot it might be a smart idea to go with a dynamic mic like the T.bone MB75 (Thomann house brand) or a highly directional condenser like the C2 (only come in pairs so you'll have a spare). I personally use a C2 as my daily driver mic despite owning mics that are worth 50x as much. The thing with Dynamic mics is that they require quite a lot of gain so it's not a bad idea to pick up a Klark Teknik CT1 if you decide to get one.

Sloth